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EDUCATORS SPARK CONTROVERSY BY USING ARMENIAN ISSUE
Today's Zaman
May 16 2011
Turkey
Recent practices by some educators who discuss the Armenian issue in
their lectures have caused controversy since some of their explanations
pass certain judgments and carry elements of hate speech.
One recent example occurred at Dicle University in Diyarbakır,
where the lecturer, Assistant Professor Yılmaz Polat, had a mid-term
question in May for about 380 students, as he told Today's Zaman.
The question in the multiple-choice exam, which had "correct" and
"wrong" choices, asked:
"The Ottoman state did not commit Armenian genocide. Some of the
disloyal Armenians, who cooperated with Russians and backstabbed the
Ottoman Army, died because of starvation, illness and cold during the
forced emigration [tehcir], which was suggested by Germans, and some
went away with Russians because of their disloyalty, and that's why
the Armenian population in Turkey has been reduced."
News about this question first appeared in the Dicle News Agency
(DİHA) and was reprinted in some Internet news portals and newspapers
on Monday.
Contacted by Today's Zaman, the professor said that he is not passing
or forcing any judgments on the students and none of them complained
of such a thing. He referred to the writings of former head of the
Turkish Historical Society (TTK) Yusuf Halacoglu who had been removed
from office by a Cabinet decision in 2008, following media attention
surrounding his controversial remarks. Halacoglu has been a strong
denier of allegations that Armenians were the victims of genocide at
the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I, and in conferences and
panel discussions organized by his organization, he said that claims
of genocide were completely false and that the TTK has 100,000 pages
of archived documents that serve as proof of this and refute the
allegations that Armenians faced genocide in 1915.
Polat said he exerts efforts in the classroom to prevent animosity
against Armenians because of historical facts but also would like to
convey "all the facts" to the students to prevent the "unjust treatment
of Turkey in the international area because of the genocide claims."
Polat claimed that this issue has been brought to the media's
attention by a lecturer in the philosophy department as part of a
campaign against him because that person is facing investigation
related to his activities on campus in connection with the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and, Polat said, he has been placed
as a member in that investigation committee.
In another event, which occurred at İstanbul's Burhan Felek High
School, national security teacher Col. Sinan Oz showed photographs
of dead bodies described as being the "Turkish children who were
massacred by Armenians" during World War I.
According to the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, some students wanted
to leave the lecture which was given in the week of April 24, the
commemoration day of Armenian killings of 1915 in Ottoman lands. The
weekly reported that the lecturer also claimed, "Only Turks and
Muslims live in Turkey."
As a state policy, Turkey categorically denies the charges, saying the
death toll is inflated and that Turks were also killed as Armenians
revolted against the Ottoman Empire in collaboration with Russian
forces for an independent state in eastern Anatolia. Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for the formation of an
international historical commission to reveal facts about the issue.
Today's Zaman
May 16 2011
Turkey
Recent practices by some educators who discuss the Armenian issue in
their lectures have caused controversy since some of their explanations
pass certain judgments and carry elements of hate speech.
One recent example occurred at Dicle University in Diyarbakır,
where the lecturer, Assistant Professor Yılmaz Polat, had a mid-term
question in May for about 380 students, as he told Today's Zaman.
The question in the multiple-choice exam, which had "correct" and
"wrong" choices, asked:
"The Ottoman state did not commit Armenian genocide. Some of the
disloyal Armenians, who cooperated with Russians and backstabbed the
Ottoman Army, died because of starvation, illness and cold during the
forced emigration [tehcir], which was suggested by Germans, and some
went away with Russians because of their disloyalty, and that's why
the Armenian population in Turkey has been reduced."
News about this question first appeared in the Dicle News Agency
(DİHA) and was reprinted in some Internet news portals and newspapers
on Monday.
Contacted by Today's Zaman, the professor said that he is not passing
or forcing any judgments on the students and none of them complained
of such a thing. He referred to the writings of former head of the
Turkish Historical Society (TTK) Yusuf Halacoglu who had been removed
from office by a Cabinet decision in 2008, following media attention
surrounding his controversial remarks. Halacoglu has been a strong
denier of allegations that Armenians were the victims of genocide at
the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I, and in conferences and
panel discussions organized by his organization, he said that claims
of genocide were completely false and that the TTK has 100,000 pages
of archived documents that serve as proof of this and refute the
allegations that Armenians faced genocide in 1915.
Polat said he exerts efforts in the classroom to prevent animosity
against Armenians because of historical facts but also would like to
convey "all the facts" to the students to prevent the "unjust treatment
of Turkey in the international area because of the genocide claims."
Polat claimed that this issue has been brought to the media's
attention by a lecturer in the philosophy department as part of a
campaign against him because that person is facing investigation
related to his activities on campus in connection with the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and, Polat said, he has been placed
as a member in that investigation committee.
In another event, which occurred at İstanbul's Burhan Felek High
School, national security teacher Col. Sinan Oz showed photographs
of dead bodies described as being the "Turkish children who were
massacred by Armenians" during World War I.
According to the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, some students wanted
to leave the lecture which was given in the week of April 24, the
commemoration day of Armenian killings of 1915 in Ottoman lands. The
weekly reported that the lecturer also claimed, "Only Turks and
Muslims live in Turkey."
As a state policy, Turkey categorically denies the charges, saying the
death toll is inflated and that Turks were also killed as Armenians
revolted against the Ottoman Empire in collaboration with Russian
forces for an independent state in eastern Anatolia. Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for the formation of an
international historical commission to reveal facts about the issue.